Friday, May 27, 2011

The Indy 500

The Indy 500 is far and away my favorite diversion from the
road. Actually it’s not something I took advantage of during downtime on the
road. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is in my back yard, 50 miles away. For
many years I made it a point to be here for race week.

Our first race was around 1972; we had heard the fun way to
do it was go down the day before. We had a pickup with a topper – our camper – and
we camped on Georgetown Road, which runs alongside the track. I think it was 60
bucks for parking, which was a lot of money back then. We were surprised to
find how many people were already there, camped all around the 2 1/2-mile track.
The grills were going and the partying was in full swing.

We had so much fun that starting the next year we went down
on Friday morning. Well, we didn’t want to be late for the start of the race at
noon Sunday. We had to walk clear across the street to our seats.

That first year we were camped next to six guys who were
about 10 years younger than us. They were all high school buddies from
California. My wife Geri and I hit it off with these guys and agreed to meet at
the same place next year. This started about a 15-year run of us getting
together at Indy. There were some dropouts, rookies, wives and one-timers that
came out over the years, but the core group of us have been friends since that
first time we met.

The Indy 500 is so much more than just another race. It
lives up to its byline “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.” Different happenings
all month long around town and at the track include everything from charity
golf events to the 500 Festival Parade featuring all the drivers, celebrities,
movie stars, etc. to the Victory Awards Banquet the next night – which is
televised.

The last 20 minutes before and the start of the 500 are
cause for major duck bumps, cold chills and the hair standing up on your neck.
Traditionally, it’s Florence Henderson singing “God Bless America,” and it’s Jim
Nabors doing “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Then there’s the invocation, the
National Anthem, a salute to the military, a bugler blowing “Taps” and then
someone from the Hulman family giving the command “Ladies and gentlemen, start your
engines.”

Then, after a couple of warmup laps, the green flag and it’s
started. As the green flag drops, they light off about 40 aerial bombs just in
case you weren’t hyped up enough. Whatever transpires after that, the last 20
minutes before and the start are special.

After the whole weekend got to be too much for us, we still
went down for the race a while longer; now it’s a TV event I won’t miss.

The Indy 500 has always been heavy on honoring
the military, as it should be. It’s Memorial Day weekend. Another
tradition is inducting a company of recruits into the U.S. Navy on opening day.
There were other events: We got to see a personal hero of mine (and the country
for that matter), Chuck Yeager, several times, doing flyovers in vintage
aircraft and jets and riding around the track with other celebrities.

One memorable occasion is when they had two jet fighters do
a flyby. You didn’t have to look up to see them. The “PA” told us where to look
and what to expect. These guys buzzed the front stretch, one at a time. When
you first saw them, they were just a speck. In a second, they were right in
front of you, then gone. You could see the rivets on the plane and the fire coming
out the back. I don’t know much about it, but I would guess they had lit off
the afterburners. The noise was almost unbearable; they
had to be breaking every rule in the book.

I have one regret about the Indy 500. After we had pretty
much stopped going, I was on the road one year, at a motel in front of the TV,
when I learned that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was hosting 90 of the
living Congressional Medal Of Honor Winners. They were honored at various
events around town and on race day. Back then there were a lot more living
World War II vets. I would have stood in long lines to meet some of those CMH
guys.

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